<div>Vimal Kumar was the happiest to see Saina Nehwal doing justice to her talent. Her transformation in the last seven months, while working with Vimal, has taken her to the top of the world ranking. But the humble Bengalurean insisted on giving all the credit to his ward.<br /><br />“I just am so happy for her. She was literally in tears when she was losing to all these top players. But she was only going through a lean phase which happens to any top sports person. The desire to excel only a few have like Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. I see that drive in Saina. When you are the top eight there is always a good possibility to be No 1. How consistent you are that matters. Now she has gone there it will be tough to maintain that. She has to show consistency. She has shown that last 2-3 months,” Vimal said.<br /><br />Since taking over as her coach, Vimal has stressed on the need for her to think independently. “I lived in Europe so I think a little different. I always felt she needed to make some decisions when she came to me, I wanted her to be independent. You need to develop that, then you don't feel disappointed, you learn to take the responsibility.<br /><br /> I kept telling her it is 90 per cent you. We are here to provide you that support. So in practice sessions, we tried out different things. But I told her that you have to come to me and tell me what you want and then I will give you my inputs and we can decide what needs to be done. So she started opening up. Some of the variations that she has been working on, is working now,” Vimal revealed.<br /><br />Vimal admitted that Saina was a very ‘demanding’ player. “After the All England final, I had asked her to take some time off. But after two days itself she called me and told that she had forgotten that match and she wants to train. It is not easy to be there at the court for 6-7 hours, there were times when I had to tell her to stop. <br /><br />“She has matured as a player. Between 25-28 years, is the best time for Indian players to achieve. She will win many more titles.”<br /><br />Srikanth storms into final<br /><br />Kidambi Srikanth brought more joy for the Indian fans when he reached the men’s singles final of the India Open.<br /><br />Srikanth, seeded second, overcame a tricky opponent in Chinese qualifier Xue Song, winning 21-16, 21-13.<br /><br />Song had beaten two Indians in Parupalli Kashyap and RMV Gursaidutt in the previous rounds.<br /><br />He, in the final, will take on Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen whom he had beaten earlier this month in Swiss Open final. Axelsen entered the final after Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia retired owing to injury. The Indonesian was trailing in the second game after winning the first, 24-22, 17-11.<br /><br />Results: Semifinal (Indians unless mentioned): Men’s singles: 6-Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt 8-Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) 22-24, 17-11 rtd; 2- K Srikanth bt Xue Song (Chn) 21-16, 21-13.<br />Women’s Singles: 3-Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt 2-Carolina Marin (Esp) 21-19, 21-23, 22-20; 1-Saina Nehwal bt Yui Hashimoto (Jpn) 21-15, 21-11.<br /><br /></div>
<div>Vimal Kumar was the happiest to see Saina Nehwal doing justice to her talent. Her transformation in the last seven months, while working with Vimal, has taken her to the top of the world ranking. But the humble Bengalurean insisted on giving all the credit to his ward.<br /><br />“I just am so happy for her. She was literally in tears when she was losing to all these top players. But she was only going through a lean phase which happens to any top sports person. The desire to excel only a few have like Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. I see that drive in Saina. When you are the top eight there is always a good possibility to be No 1. How consistent you are that matters. Now she has gone there it will be tough to maintain that. She has to show consistency. She has shown that last 2-3 months,” Vimal said.<br /><br />Since taking over as her coach, Vimal has stressed on the need for her to think independently. “I lived in Europe so I think a little different. I always felt she needed to make some decisions when she came to me, I wanted her to be independent. You need to develop that, then you don't feel disappointed, you learn to take the responsibility.<br /><br /> I kept telling her it is 90 per cent you. We are here to provide you that support. So in practice sessions, we tried out different things. But I told her that you have to come to me and tell me what you want and then I will give you my inputs and we can decide what needs to be done. So she started opening up. Some of the variations that she has been working on, is working now,” Vimal revealed.<br /><br />Vimal admitted that Saina was a very ‘demanding’ player. “After the All England final, I had asked her to take some time off. But after two days itself she called me and told that she had forgotten that match and she wants to train. It is not easy to be there at the court for 6-7 hours, there were times when I had to tell her to stop. <br /><br />“She has matured as a player. Between 25-28 years, is the best time for Indian players to achieve. She will win many more titles.”<br /><br />Srikanth storms into final<br /><br />Kidambi Srikanth brought more joy for the Indian fans when he reached the men’s singles final of the India Open.<br /><br />Srikanth, seeded second, overcame a tricky opponent in Chinese qualifier Xue Song, winning 21-16, 21-13.<br /><br />Song had beaten two Indians in Parupalli Kashyap and RMV Gursaidutt in the previous rounds.<br /><br />He, in the final, will take on Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen whom he had beaten earlier this month in Swiss Open final. Axelsen entered the final after Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia retired owing to injury. The Indonesian was trailing in the second game after winning the first, 24-22, 17-11.<br /><br />Results: Semifinal (Indians unless mentioned): Men’s singles: 6-Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt 8-Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) 22-24, 17-11 rtd; 2- K Srikanth bt Xue Song (Chn) 21-16, 21-13.<br />Women’s Singles: 3-Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt 2-Carolina Marin (Esp) 21-19, 21-23, 22-20; 1-Saina Nehwal bt Yui Hashimoto (Jpn) 21-15, 21-11.<br /><br /></div>
